Saturday, October 01, 2016

I Took a Trip

I took a trip this month. No: last month. September. I went to Australia with that Spouse o' Mine. We went to visit his kith & kin. He has parents, brothers, inlaws, and nieces and nephews over there. We were there nearly three weeks. I am going to write about my trip, but not in any order at all. My trip did not have any order in it at all, but great fun was had and that is all that counts.

Today, Saturday October 1st: here I am, home again. Jiggety-jig. Ugh. 36 hours awake/not completely awake, certainly not fast asleep, in airports, on airplanes, in too many Customs queues filling out too many Customs forms. In a moment of lucid consciousness this morning I realized that I had not completed filling out my Australian Customs departure form, and had plunked it into the box upon my departure. I forgot to fill in my passport number and some other blank.

I wonder if the Aussies will come after me?

I think I will discuss Virgin Australia Airlines. I booked our flights on that airline because they were cheap. I think maybe next time I will pay the extra few hundred dollars so that I can get piddly things that I wanted on that 14-hour flight. Most airlines now provide Wi-Fi service on flights. (Last year I was emailing folks while flying over Vanuatu at 35,000 ft and 555 mph.) Our 14-hour flight gave us a meal after take-off, a snack in the middle of nowhere, an ice cream even more in the middle of nowhere, and then a meal two hours before landing. If one wandered about the cabin (as I do, a LOT), one will discover that they have a bin of apples and pears for the taking, in one of the galleys. Hello? No announcement about bins of fruit? Or better yet...can the flight attendants not stroll down the aisles and offer us fare-payers some fruit? Do we have to forage the galleys? And my coffee addiction? How should I address my need for caffeine? I wanted/needed coffee maybe four hours, then six hours, and then again nine hours into our flight, and none was to be had. Seriously?!! I should not hearken back to my old Flight Attendant days with TWA, but I am: on international flights we always had a fresh pot of coffee going in every galley (read: 6 galleys) for anyone who wanted coffee. And tea! Or any drink! OK, let's move on from caloric intake, and I will revisit the entertainment onboard Virgin Australia. No Wi-Fi, but they had movies and TV and podcasts. The podcasts were Aussie, and I enjoyed them. Why was I listening to podcasts? Because the TV choices were dated. DATED. The Mindy Project, (2012). Big Bang Theory. Arrested Development. I watched Monster-in-Law (2005), and parts of Bridget Jones' Diary (2001).

I don't want to boast but I do want to clarify that I am a seasoned traveler, and I am game for lots of fun and adventures, and any ills that might come hand-in-hand. But here's something that I do not like about Virgin Australia's long-haul planes: the armrests do not come up all the way. They come up...maybe 60º. That's not enough if one is trying to lie across a couple or a few seats to get some shuteye. Let's talk PRETZEL NECK.

Wowza. This sounds like Negative Nancy wrote this.

Nope. I am a Positive Polly, but apparently this flight stuff was lying at the top of my consciousness. As we are taught to do, I shall follow my negative(s) with a positive:

DELTA Airlines ( which we took from Kansas City to and from Los Angeles) was pretty darn good. Good check-in service, good cockpit crews, great flight attendants (yeah - 'cause I am an authority) and all around pleasant folks and flights.

And so. This is my first of many installments regarding our Aussie Holiday.